But, almost a quarter of respondents to the survey (23%) felt GP consultations should only be done face-to-face, while 70% said online GPs should only be used in specific situations, such as simple consultations or out-of-hours care.

The survey also asked how concerned people were about different aspects of online GP services.

It found respondents were most concerned about triage being done by an artificial intelligence chat-bot before being able to consult a human GP (72%), and about not knowing who the GP was (71%).

These concerns were closely followed by the privacy of patient information (69%), what would happen if a referral to a physical doctor or specialist was needed (66%), and technology glitches (66%).

Readers' comments (3)

so here we are, vast amounts of public money directed on the whim of naive politicians towards vanity projects nobody wants, just basically so they can make their mark in the few years they are 'in charge'. such a clever idea Mr Hancock, maybe you should have asked round a bit wether anyone actually wants this, not just the bubble of well healed smart phone obsessed city buddies you hang out with

Strong slap on the face of the Health Secretary who is short-sighted with shallow concept , trying to quick-fix deep-seated problems without addressing the core issue of new resources. Also a strong smell of conflict of interest as far as a Secretary of State is concerned. As I wrote , some legal advice might need to be sought ?